Formula 1 | Haas, Steiner responds to criticism of the VF18: "Attack is the best way to justify incompetence"

After the latest attacks by McLaren and Force India, Gunther Steiner defended Haas' winter work, underlining how the VF18 is not a clone of last season's SF70-H. The South Tyrolean manager stated that this year's car shares its wheelbase and rear suspension with Ferrari, but the rest of the development was carried out by Dallara and the engineers of the US team. According to the Haas Team Principal, however, the problem lies in the fact that some large teams, with budgets lower than Gene Haas's small team, they couldn't get the performance of the VF18, which is why they see ghosts. Steiner invited these teams to file a regular complaint with the FIA, stating that the team can calmly defend itself against these accusations.

Here are the words of Gunther Steiner: "I invite them to file a complaint with the Federation if they see ghosts or have problems with us. We have the same wheelbase as the 2018 Ferrari and share the suspension, so it is logical that some teams claim that our car is a clone. In reality, however, we developed our concept independently. If you have to justify your incompetence, offense is the best defense. The reality is that we have put behind teams that have a budget far greater than ours. Rather than attack our car they should stop for a moment and ask themselves 'What are we doing?'

Roberto Valenti